ACL Teaser: Shakey Graves

Shakey Graves, aka Austin native Alejandro Rose-Garcia

I bet a lot of people in Austin had the same reaction I did when they watched the Pixies video for “Andro Queen,” which debuted on Monday: “Oh cool, a new Pixies video... Wait, WTF? Is that Shakey Graves? Why the hell is Shakey Graves in a Pixies video?” Or something like that.

Indeed, the local one-man-band gets featured prominently in the woozy, artsy edits of the clip, which employs no actual footage of the Pixies. Graves gazes contemplatively to the horizon, walks through the forest after dark, takes photographs, and, of course, picks that Archtop guitar while stomping his suitcase.

An explanation was needed, so I called Graves (aka Alejandro Rose-Garcia), who reported that the footage comes from his weekend at Pickathon, a music festival outside Portland, Ore., that he played in early August. Director Ondi Timoner, famous for her notorious rock doc Dig about the Dandy Warhols and Brian Jonestown Massacre, captured Graves onstage and off.

“It’s amazing to see that footage, because that whole festival, and especially the time we spend walking around the woods, was really magical for me,” gushes Graves. “That’s an amazing place.”

The shots weren’t initially destined for the Pixies, but sometime after Pickathon, Timoner was contracted by the band to direct a video. She called Graves and asked him if he wanted his footage to be used in the video.

“I’m a huge Pixies fan,” he confirms. “I grew up on them.”

Still, he didn’t know what to expect until Monday when he saw it online.

“It was only when I watched it that I comprehended what was happening,” he laughs. “‘Wow, I’m in the new Pixies video.’”

Graves has been on tour with fellow ACL Fest performers Shovels & Rope, who’ve been blowing his mind.

“I think Cary Ann Hearst will go down as one of the great female musicians of our time,” he offers. “She’s a mixture of Janis Joplin and Dolly Parton. She has a huge personality and she wears it on her sleeve like a tattoo.”

Shakey Graves performs on the BMI Stage at ACL on Saturday at 4:30pm.